Accrington slam disrespectful Warbo over swoop for Crooks

Accrington Stanley chief Andy Holt has slammed Mark Warburton for trying to sign Josh Windass and Matt Crooks by email!

Both players have been heavily linked with a move to Ibrox despite the going concern warning issued in Sevco’s annual accounts that £2.5m was required to continue trading till the end of the season.

Windass and Crooks are out of contract in the summer and could switch to Ibrox for a nominal development fee since it would be viewed as an international transfer.

Holt took control of Accrington earlier this season with a plan to clear the club’s debt but has made his feelings clear on the underhand Ibrox approach for his star duo.

“The way Rangers have gone about things has annoyed me a bit,” he stated. “Instead of coming through me or our manager John Coleman they just sent an email to our secretary and that’s not the norm.

“I thought they might have called one of us, or even our chairman Peter Marsden and told us their intentions. In normal circumstances a manager would ring his fellow manager to say what was going on so that was a bit disappointing.

“We are investing in young players so I don’t like the rule that says they can effectively move on for free if they go north of the border,” he said. “If you grow a tree and spend money on it then when it becomes a bigger tree you get more money for it. And that’s how it should be with football players too.

“It’s possible the two boys have had their heads turned but I wouldn’t have a problem with that if that were the case. I wouldn’t want to stand in their way of having a future as they are good lads, as are the rest of the squad but I don’t think we as a club should lose out as a result after all our efforts in bringing them on.“

Former city trader Warbo has already swooped to bring Harry Forrester and Maciej Gostomski to Ibrox with both stars signing five month contracts with no transfer fee involved.